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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29986053">The Only Sinner Here Is Me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaron_The_8th_Demon/pseuds/Aaron_The_8th_Demon'>Aaron_The_8th_Demon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Salt 'N Burn Fics [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Castiel the self-hating angel of Thursday, M/M, One Shot, Pre-Slash, Season/Series 05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:54:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>835</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29986053</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaron_The_8th_Demon/pseuds/Aaron_The_8th_Demon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There is no fault to be found with love and Claire Novak's soul is not, in fact, bound for Hell if she dies.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel &amp; Jimmy Novak (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Salt 'N Burn Fics [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2219967</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Only Sinner Here Is Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This short little thing was inspired by a random Tumblr post :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>At the moment, Castiel is not perceptible to humans.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In fact, he’s flying almost erratically, extremely fast and trying to hit as many points as possible while avoiding other angels who are likely to kill him on Zachariah’s orders should he be spotted. Dean’s talisman still hasn’t given any indication of God’s presence, but Castiel is nothing if not persistent. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span> find his Father.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two prayers come to him at once, but he can listen while flying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean Winchester’s voice fills one half of his mind, overpowering the chattering hum of his estranged brothers and sisters: </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey Cas, uh, I know you’re busy lookin’ for god and all right now but me and Sammy are out on a case and I was just kinda worryin’ about Bobby a little bit. He’s just stuck in that chair and maybe demons might go after him as a way to get to us, so… if you can check on him or whatever once in awhile until we get back to South Dakota I’d appreciate it. And bring my damn necklace back, man. It’s been like a week now and I feel naked.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>In the other half, a much younger and quieter prayer: </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Dear Castiel, this is Claire. Again. Um. I know I already asked a bunch of times now, but I just want my dad to come back safe. Once he’s home again my mom will come back, too. I miss them. Are you protecting them? Can’t you borrow someone else’s dad for awhile or something? Are you even listening? Maybe you don’t care, do you? I bet I just sound stupid doing this. I wish you’d give him back. Amen.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Castiel halts his search for the briefest possible moment to look in on Bobby, who’s fine. He then resumes his search while narrowly ducking the surveillance of Raphael, who’s still extremely irate about the holy fire incident in Maine.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Can’t you check on her, too?*</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jimmy asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>+WHY+ Castiel replies. +SHE DID NOT ASK ME TO AND IT ISN’T POSSIBLE AT THIS TIME FOR YOU TO REUNITE WITH HER SO IT WOULD BE POINTLESS+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*But she’s by herself!*</span>
  </em>
  <span> his vessel’s soul wails. </span>
  <em>
    <span>*I asked for you to take me again so that she’d be safe, but now she’s basically alone! Shouldn’t you be protecting her, too?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+THERE’S TOO MUCH AT STAKE+ Castiel explains. +I SHOULD NOT DEVIATE FROM MY MISSION ANY MORE THAN IS NECESSARY+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Oh, great! So you can just go running any time Dean Winchester stubs his toe but you can’t take </span>
  </em>
  <span>five seconds</span>
  <em>
    <span> to make sure my daughter’s okay?!*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Castiel is irritated, but he does come to realize that, yes, he’s being extremely hypocritical about this. +FINE+</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His wings lift and he focuses on the location of Claire Novak’s prayer, arriving immediately but still outside the range of any human senses. She’s unaware that he’s observing from twenty two feet away as she sits on the porch of her grandmother’s house doing “homework” with a classmate. Under the table, the girl reaches for Claire’s hand and they both smile slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>+ARE YOU SATISFIED+</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inexplicably, Jimmy’s soul is crying. </span>
  <em>
    <span>*Oh, no…*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+WHAT+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*She’s… but… can’t you do something? She’ll go to Hell!*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD THINK SO+ Castiel says, immeasurably confused by Jimmy’s distress.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*She can’t, she, not with another girl…*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes almost an entire minute for Castiel to ascertain what his vessel’s soul is attempting to tell him, which is mildly embarrassing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>+YOU BELIEVE THAT JUDGEMENT WILL BE PASSED ON HER OVER A LACK OF ATTRACTION TO BOYS+ He pauses. +YOU BELIEVE THAT I SPECIFICALLY WILL JUDGE HER FOR IT AND CONDEMN HER TO THE PIT WHEN SHE DIES+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Isn’t there something you can do? Can you make an exception for her?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+NO EXCEPTION NEEDS TO BE MADE+ he growls, annoyed at this idiotic misconception that so many humans seem to have. +THERE IS NO SIN TO BE FOUND HERE REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOUR RELIGIOUS LEADERS WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*Are you sure?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+DEAN WINCHESTER HAS ENGAGED IN SEXUAL CONGRESS WITH NUMEROUS PARTNERS OF MORE THAN ONE GENDER AND YET WE RAISED HIM FROM HELL BECAUSE HE DID NOT BELONG THERE+ Castiel points out, largely because Dean is the first example that comes to mind. +CLAIRE HAS AN UNBLEMISHED SOUL AND SHE HAS PERPETRATED NO MALICIOUS ACTS EITHER LARGE OR SMALL+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*She’ll get into Heaven?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+YES+</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Relief pours out from Jimmy’s soul. </span>
  <em>
    <span>*Thank you.*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Castiel rolls his eyes. +WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHAT A TRUE SIN WORTHY OF DIVINE PUNISHMENT IS+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*I… okay, what?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+AN ANGEL WHO REBELS AGAINST HEAVEN+ he says, extremely bitterly. To be fair, it’s directed entirely at his superiors and himself, not at Dean. Never at Dean. +OR FOR INSTANCE AN ANGEL WHO LOVES A HUMAN MORE THAN THEY LOVE GOD+</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>*So you?*</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>+IF I WERE IN POSSESSION OF A SOUL IT WOULD BE ME SENT TO HELL ON MY DEATH+ he admits. +AND TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST I’M SURE I WOULD DESERVE IT+</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My other SPN fics can be found <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&amp;commit=Sort+and+Filter&amp;work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&amp;include_work_search%5Bfandom_ids%5D%5B%5D=27&amp;work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bexcluded_tag_names%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bcrossover%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bwords_from%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bwords_to%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bdate_from%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bdate_to%5D=&amp;work_search%5Bquery%5D=&amp;work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&amp;user_id=Aaron_The_8th_Demon">here</a>.</p><p>Comments welcome and appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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